


Father-Son Outings

by AnAmnesty



Category: Persona 5
Genre: Age Difference, Chronophilia, Consent Issues, Family Issues, M/M, Minor Violence, Other
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-03-17
Updated: 2019-03-17
Packaged: 2019-11-23 07:00:24
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Underage
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,099
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18148622
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AnAmnesty/pseuds/AnAmnesty
Summary: A long-time customer of Untouchable (reader) demands that the shop owner Iwai confess what has been bothering him. Iwai admits that he and a schoolboy have gotten very close, and the customer learns of the related incident that has left him upset. But, Iwai is not willing to tell the entire truth.





	Father-Son Outings

**Author's Note:**

> This is the Simple English version of this work. The original English version should be archived later.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter Content Warnings
>     casual alcohol consumption, stalking mention
> Narrator
>     Iwai Munehisa

It‘s nothing. You paid, so get out.

Dammit, I said no. Can’t you hear?

… fine. Fine, fine. You know, when most people hear me say “no”, they respect it. You’re one of the few that doesn’t. Fine! Come to the back room so I have some shred of privacy left.

You want to know what’s bothering me? It‘s you people. You fucking people, who can’t take “no” for an answer. You… no, I’m sorry. You aren’t like him. I didn’t mean that. I can tell you’re genuinely worried. How many years’ve you bought from Untouchable? We know each other well enough. You deserve to corner me just one time, especially for my sake. But you cannot tell a goddamn soul. Understand?

Shit… well, there’s this kid. Not, like, _kid_ kid. This young guy. He works odd jobs when he isn’t at school. He took long enough to even look me in the eye, but sure loves the stuff we sell. Big enthusiast. So naturally… we start talking. A lot. I think maybe he plays survival games, but I‘m pretty sure he LARPs in general. Like, live roleplay, improv acting for nerds, playing pretend like a child, you know? Always buying the most realistic stuff. But a lot of the time he comes in just to talk. He asks me tons of questions, even if he’s heard the answers fifty times before, just gets me talking and talking and he just listens with this passionate look. I mean, I guess you can tell I just keep rambling pretty easily.

Heh. Didn’t take long for him to get more involved in my life after that. He’s way nosier than you. Then he starts… I start seeing him more like a son than just some kid customer. His family disowned him. The opposite kind of happened with my family but I can still relate to having a shitty family. Knowing that about him, he might use model guns and replica swords and all of that to escape into some sort of power fantasy. It makes sense that he comes to the shop so much, because maybe I‘m filling the spot his dad left in his life? He surprised me when he asked me to go somewhere with him. Like, “Why a dude so much older than him?” Yea the greying is premature, but there’s still this considerable age gap.

Eh? How old did you think I was?

Woah! I’m almost offended.

Yea yea, anyways, the kid is asking me to go places with him and I‘m kind of freaked out until I realize my son- uh, you know, this kid is seeing me as his new dad. It‘s not that weird in that context. It‘s a father-son outing. So sure, I go and see what he wants to show me. I keep spending more time with him outside the shop. Same sort of thing as talking: we go to whatever new places he can think of, and other times we go to whatever old places we like no matter how many times we‘ve been. Hell, he takes me to the Red Light District to drink at a drag bar and insists he pays my tab! Like I’d let him pay. Kid can’t even drink alcohol, himself.

I only drank enough to get comfortable. First time at a bar like that.

No, he did not drink. Not because he didn’t want to; he tried to steal a sip from me, but the barkeep scolded his bratty ass and that was enough to stop his attempts for the rest of our time there. Seems like she knew this side of him more than I did. I should've taken note. Maybe I was just a bit too tipsy to process it.

… I remember that’s the first time he says, “Mune, I need you.” He just slips his hand into mine, like he always does, but he traps it with his other hand on top and I start staring and he says it. “Mune…” He moves my wrist to his lips and says it. “I need you.” He's staring right back at me, that _passionate_ look. Holy shit, I don't know how many drinks it’d have taken to wash that memory out. I can only imagine my face looking dumb enough to make him start giggling before I can speak. Helps me come to my senses.

I scoot over to the edge of the barstool, kiss the side of his head. I tell him, “Love ya, kiddo.” He squeezes my hand a little and mumbles. With my other hand I mess his hair up. Well, it‘s already messy so it doesn't make much difference. It turns out he isn’t fond of that. So instead I start asking about his hair and we move through different topics during the night. I walk him back to his place when I sober up. I go home and really start thinking about how close he got to me in less than a year. I come to accept that I’m a family to him like I'm family to Kaoru.

Damn. Well. Kaoru is my son. Like, since he was a baby. He's still a baby to me. I just see so much of Kaoru in… this other kid. In the way he hugs for just a bit too long, tugs my arm around in public, says he wishes for more time with me, all that. Boys’re like that with their dads, huh? I wonder if Kaoru sees him as his big bro?

Eh, maybe it‘s just those two boys then. Thanks to my so-called “father” I wouldn’t know what a healthy father-son relationship is like. Honestly, with this kid pissing me off it makes me worry about Kaoru. Well, Kaoru is so much more respectful and grateful, so I guess it‘s just me being paranoid about my parenting as per usual. It isn't my fault this other kid is spoiled. I'm not responsible for that.

I guess I‘ve skirted the question long enough. What exactly he did to piss me off…. Going out so much with this kid is tiring, you know? And I have work to do here at Untouchable, not just selling but also buying and modifying modelguns. It‘s business. I have to do it not just for my own finances but also to support Kaoru through school. Kaoru understands that, but of course this brat doesn’t. He keeps asking and pressuring me to go out somewhere, anywhere. If I‘m lucky he goes four sentences without requesting to take me somewhere. Persistent little pest goes on for days not comprehending that we have to do our damn work. Last couple days, he narrows it down to one place, this bakery. He increases the pestering too, now it seems every word out of his mouth is trying to get me out of the shop. Then… I end up snapping. Yelling at him.

That doesn’t even phase him, honestly. Maybe I should have expected that, since he comes from a shitty family. He says, “Calm down, _sir_.” He keeps a neutral face like he’s handling a customer, but his damn tone of voice, that emphasis… it‘s a challenge. So I walk up to the brat, point at him from so close I nearly poke his glasses. I‘m trying to keep my voice low this time, tell him to get the hell out of here, point right at the door. He gets this dumbass smirk like he’s damn excited, but in his eyes... he’s too scared to move. Goddamn child. I have to take him by the wrist and pull him to the door myself. He cooperates then, sure, but when he’s outside the door he just stands here. I… am about to apologize, but he looks over his shoulder. “Tomorrow,” he says, and he takes off in a sprint. What the hell. I can’t tell what the hell is in that boy’s head.

That‘s not all, hell no. Yesterday, he doesn't show up like he usually does. I get worried. I‘m worried since the day before, but now he’s running late and I’m real worried. What’d he mean by “tomorrow”? Is he that hurt by being thrown out? He’s going to at least come by, right? He hasn't done anything reckless. He isn’t going to be stupid with the stuff that I sold to him. He isn’t going to hurt himself… right? So I have mixed feelings when he pushes the door open with his back and his arms tied behind him with a ribbon in a bow. He has a plastic bag with the logo of that bakery swinging from his mouth. ‘kay, weird. He waltzes up to the counter and deposits the bag on top. I‘m wondering, “This a peace offering of some sort? Sorry for being a little brat?”

He has this eager grin on, tells me, “Unpack it, Iwai.” Whatever, I go ahead and start taking stuff out of the bag. The first thing I pull out is a plush toy. Of him. It’s a little SD plushie that looks an awful lot like the kid… is this supposed to be for me? How arrogant do you have to be to try giving someone this? Anyways, I put the plushie on the counter, pull out a paper plate and a plastic fork from the bag. At the bottom of the bag is a box, inside the box is a slice of cake. It looks good, really. I throw out the stick in my mouth, being done with my lollipop. I put the cake on the plate. I‘m thanking the kid for the cake and picking the fork up and he says, “Feed it to me.”

Yea. “I’m hungry, but my arms are tied up. Iwai, you gotta feed me.” Can you believe that little shit! Whose fucking fault is it, because I'm not the one who tied you up! Damn brat. Goddamn brat… ugh, I say more than that to him. I don’t even remember getting to my feet. Kid is shaking from head to toe but keeps that cheery face on. I don’t want to see that fake face. I want to take a chunk of cake on the fork and fling it at his little mouth. I almost do it… I can’t when he looks so helpless, so the doll gets it instead. Then I throw the fork at the wall, or else I’m going to stab a motherfucker, I… god, damn it… I did that. Maybe… he doesn't deserve it, but… it‘s not like I deserve his shit either!

… I walk out. Leaving him there. He doesn’t follow. I walk around town a while, and when I get back he isn’t there.

I haven't seen him since, no. He didn’t show up today. I even tried apologizing on SNS, got nothing back. I hardly got any work done today, can’t stop thinking of him. Fuck… a good father can put up with this, without driving the kid away. I already suspected I suck as a dad though. He‘s better off without me.

  


… be persistent, huh. Don’t walk away? You’re serious… I could get into deep shit like that, you know. What if he tells people I was a dick to him and now I’m stalking him, huh? That’d be bad for business. If he doesn’t want to talk anymore, I should respect that. Show the respect he should have shown to me. I should leave him alone. He has to learn that lesson on his own. Besides, I shouldn’t let him toy with my dignity as a man. I should stand-

The fuck I’m wrong! I-

Shut your fuck-

Fine, say your shit!

  


… what…. You’re right. But… damn it. You’re right. He did say he needs me. I did tell him I love him. I can’t just leave that behind like he‘s nothing. I can’t get anything done properly thinking he’s so badly hurting out there. Dammit… I’ll keep messaging him. I’ll go look for him when I can. But I really have work to do. So… can you help me?

Well, you helped me enough already. So you can say no. But if you see him around, could you just make sure he’s okay? Black, wavy hair. Big, black-rimmed glasses. Goes to Shujin Academy. Pretty boy. Maybe try getting him to message me or something? Don’t expect him to blab as much as me, though. You have to really carry the conversation. Guess I‘ll ask Kaoru for help too.

Yea. Well. Thanks for insisting. I probably… I should probably close up shop soon.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to:
> 
>   * Magame, beta reader
>   * [Mew-chan](https://archiveofourown.org/users/mewchan1197/), beta reader
>   * [Greenie](https://archiveofourown.org/users/haithuong313/), beta reader
>   * [Om Tivi](https://archiveofourown.org/users/OmTivi), beta reader
>   * Others in [IwaiPego's ·.¸¸.· sweet home](https://discord.gg/PC7wz2n), an adults-only Iwai/Protagonist Discord
>   * You, reader! Please continue to view my work! You'll be hearing from Ryuji in the next chapter.
> 



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